Does music genre affect medical students’ performance in standardized laparoscopic exercises? Comparing exposure to rock, hip-hop, classic and mixed radio music at 70 decibels

Aim The influence of acoustic factors (e.g. music) on performance outcome on surgical procedures like laparoscopy is controversial. Thus, measuring performance on laparoscopic box training tools under standardized conditions seems to be a feasible approach. Intention of this prospective study is to evaluate the effect of different music genres on training performance of laparoscopic novices at Heidelberg University Women’s Hospital.

Methods Between 05/2018 and 12/2018 n=66 students (29 male, 37 female) from Heidelberg University Medical School performed three different exercises (a,b,c) on the “Luebecker Toolbox” with two repetitions under standardized conditions. For each exercise time was recorded. The students were consecutively assigned to one of four groups with exposure to music compilations containing the genres rock, hip-hop, classic and mixed radio music. The music was played with a constant sound pressure level (SPL) of 70 decibels (dB). The groups were then compared with each other using a t-test for independent samples.

Results In comparison to radio and rock, significantly better performance was shown under the exposure of classic music in exercise b with an average time of 120 s. No significant difference was shown in exercise a, although classic music needed the least time to finish the exercise with mean performance time of 120 s, respectively. In the last exercise (c), hip-hop showed significantly better performance than radio and rock (109 s).

Conclusion At a SPL of 70 dB exposure to classic and hip-hop music seems to have beneficial effects on training performance under standardized conditions.

Publication History

Article published online:
07 October 2020